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All of those studied were born between 1945 and 1989, and all the comparisons were made between people of similar age and gender.

The first finding was that those who are on Facebook live longer than those who are not.

In a given year, the average Facebook user is about 12 per cent less likely to die than someone who doesn't use the site.

Facebook

Among people who do use Facebook, the researchers looked at numbers of friends, numbers of photos and status updates, numbers of wall posts sent and messages sent, to see if people who were more active lived longer.

People with average or large social networks, in the top 50 to 30 per cent, lived longer than those in the lowest 10 - a finding consistent with studies of offline relationships and longevity.

Those on Facebook with highest levels of offline social integration - as measured by posting more photos, which suggests face-to-face social activity - have the greatest longevity.